Facile synthesis of carbon-coated LiVO3 with enhanced electrochemical performances as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries

LiVO3 has been considered as a promising cathode material owing to the high specific capacity. But it suffers from the poor rate capability and cyclability. Carbon coating is an effective approach to improve the electrochemical performance, but the synthesis of carbon-coated LiVO3 has not been reported. Herein, we propose a novel method to synthesize carbon-coated LiVO3 (C@LVO) using a simple solution evaporation of LiNO3, VOC2O4 and resol precursors followed by a sync-carbonization strategy. In this approach, VOC2O4 is utilized as the precursor for the first time. Carbon layers and encapsulated LVO are simultaneously generated. An amorphous carbon layer with thickness around 10 nm is observed on the surface of LVO particles using TEM. Compared to bare LVO, C@LVO shows a higher rate capability and more stable cyclability. C@LVO exhibits initial charge and discharge capacities of 281.3 and 339.5 mA h g−1 and features long-term cyclability (125.2 and 125.4 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1 after 120 cycles). They possess lower charge-transfer resistance in comparison with bare LVO due to enhanced conductivity of the carbon layer. The higher specific capacity, improved cyclability and rate capability can be greatly attributed to the coated carbon layer, which resists the aggregation of LVO particles, and prevents the side reaction with electrolyte.